The day after
There wasn’t a single political discussion at my family’s Thanksgiving celebration yesterday. For me that’s a big relief, because my experience is that such things never, never, never lead to anything good.
Did I eat too much yesterday? You betcha, but not enough to become ill.
My favorites? Too numerous to mention, but probably the cranberry compote my sister-in-law always makes, the sauerkraut in wine (yes, sauerkraut) a friend brings, and an amazing mashed potatoes with dill. That latter doesn’t sound so great, and I’m ordinarily not even a mashed potato fan, but it was irresistible. Among the many desserts there was a cranberry tart that’s become traditional and that is absolutely incredible.
No snow, no rain.
And today—why, turkey sandwiches (with the rest of the cranberry compote), turkey salad, and turkey soup, of course.
And you?
I take it you didn’t wear your MAGA hat.
Green salad incl. avacadoes w/ lemon dressing, lamb shanks over rice, razzleberry pie w/ vanilla ice cream. Plus wine, and Jameson’s for afters.
And tomorrow will be our Thanksgiving potluck with a larger group. I’ve just finished boiling and peeling the eggs for my famous deviled eggs.
neo,
The link to the ‘cranberry tart’ doesn’t work and the site’s search bar returns “nothing found” when “cranberry tart” is entered.
Neo and her family ate it all.
I’m actually beaming with pride.
My nephews taught my oldest daughter to shoot. We live in a gun-free zone so she was away with the distant family for T-giving…and the boys took her out back with the AR-15 & I hope some Tannerite & had fun.
Now when prospective suitors show up…I can show ’em those photos so they know who they’re dealing with.
John,
IMO and state laws permitting, every woman and girl should carry a pepper gel spray and a rechargeable stun gun in their purse.
They do work, two testimonials;
Predators look for easy prey. It’s a cliche but true, “When seconds count, the police are but minutes away”
Of course, nothing beats concealed carry…
We had twenty adults with two general age groups: 20’s to 30’s and 50’s to 60’s. Various political affiliations are represented. Not a word that I heard or said about political topics, not even a mention of the more recent sexual scandals. It was marvelous.
All the food was amazing. My daughter & her husband, the hosts, roasted a turkey to perfection. I smoked/slow cooked two turkey breasts, one with an herb rub, the other with a cayenne rub. Too many awesome sides to list them here. Two types of cranberry dishes: one a sort of relish made by my sister-in-law, the other the jellied sort that retains the shape of the can it came in. Make fun of me if you wish, but I love that stuff. Finished it off with several varieties of pies and cookies.
A wonderful day with wonderful weather, family, and food. I don’t recall ever having a bad Thanksgiving but this one was especially wonderful.
GB – you get my “aye” vote.
I however am currently ensconced in a snowflake’s paradise…so…neither are permitted & either would get you locked up.
The usual suspects, plus World Class Kielbasa, from a local market,https://www.stanleysmarket.com/, near the Polish Village in Toledo, Ohio. Almost as good as the homemade sausage, that Busia made.
Great day with scattered family.
Started with 5K (which I walked with the un-athletic grand daughter, home from DC; and it gave us time to visit). Daughter and athletic twin grand children ran; and medalled, as usual.
We don’t talk politics in the family; but, later I did whisper to the college age grand daughter that she should start reading the “instructive” political emails from her grand father, as they might counter some of the propaganda she gets from her Professors. She rolled her eyes a bit; but, we are good. Nothing can change that. I still have hope for all of them.
A turkey roasted to perfection, my wife’s cornbread dressing, mashed potatoes, the traditional (at least in Texas) green bean casserole, sweet potatoes (roasted), spinach salad, cranberry sauce made with jalapenos and cilantro, pumpkin and Derby pie.
And I’m on a low carb diet!
A capon roasted with care, home made mac & Cheese, green bean casserole and a salad. Best of all our grown children and all the grand kids were under one roof. Love your site I have been reading it for a while. Keep up the good work.
We used to make turkey sandwiches, turkey cupcakes, etc, but now I just freeze the carcass and put it in a black-eyed pea cassoulet, with whatever was left of the Christmas ham, for New Year’s Day. I make a lot. I get really distressed when fights break out over the last serving.We really like other legumes better than Black-eyes, but we eat enough of the BEP for sacramental validity, mixed with Great Northern beans, and cream peas, Seasoned with Julia Childish herbs, etc, because it is a cassoulet, after all, and we eat it with cornbread and baguette, recognizing the two nationalities represented.It’s really quite wonderful.
Have gained ten pounds just reading the comments. Too much good food. Glad there are people who can chow down on it.
And no political brawls? What’s up with that? After all it adds a bit of life to the proceedings. None at our house – we’re all conservo-libertarians.
A most memorable Thanksgiving for me was in 1966. Many families gathered at my cousin’s home in Berkeley. Her father, my uncle, was rabidly ant-war. We managed to get to the desert before the battle began. It only lasted about thirty minutes. My uncle was very profane and insulting. We didn’t come to blows, but it was a close run thing. We didn’t speak to one another for twenty years. Both hard headed. He was in hospital and dying when we broke our silence. I went to visit him. We agreed to disagree and made our peace. It’s a memory that runs deep for me.
Geoffrey Britain Says:
November 24th, 2017 at 2:02 pm
neo,
The link to the ‘cranberry tart’ doesn’t work and the site’s search bar returns “nothing found” when “cranberry tart” is entered.
* * *
And add the cranberry compote and mashed potatoes with dill while you are at it, please!
My only contribution to the Feast this year was my Signature Green Bean Casserole I believe I invented it, but if anyone has seen it somewhere let me know).
Use Golden Mushroom soup instead of the regular kind, and mix thoroughly with one block of softened cream cheese before adding the beans.
I generally have to get 2 cans of the French Fried onions: one for the topping, and one just to eat for snacking.
I am grateful to have spent the day with friends who are all conservatives, and for good political talk. Can you believe that in my college town everyone at this table was to the right of center and happy to be finding others who agreed. That is something to be thankful for.
My contribution was a bottle of single malt whiskey and a decent Cal. Cab. The turkey was perfectly cooked, with all of the usual sides, followed by wonderful pies and a maple pound cake. it was so moist it stole the show. The best pie was a pumpkin/pecan with a great crust. The pumpkin cut the sweetness of the traditional pecan. I went home with lots of leftovers, all of which are now gone! My diet started at midnight.
Romey
My father took charge of Christmas breakfast: his divine scrambled eggs, coffee cake he made himself, and kielbasa from a local source. That was the best kielbasa I have ever had. As my grandmothers weren’t Polish, I have no further comparison.
We had the pleasure of spending Thanksgiving Day with our youngest and his wife’s family, in the South Bay. Her mother prepared delicious food to which we contributed the pecan and pumpkin pie as well as Waldorf Salad made with a small amount of mayo, the rest whipped cream and the addition of pomegranate. The next day we headed up the coast to Carmel to be with our other 2 children and their families. Our daughter’s mother-in-law (a renowned chef) hosts a day after meal resplendent with myriad dishes and a table set for 18 adorned in magazine cover fashion. But my delight was to sit on her deck that offers views of the hills of Carmel with the sun setting over Point Lobos while holding my 3 month old grandson so his parents could enjoy the meal entertaining him by singing carols with my 7 year old granddaughter. Even more enjoyable than the magnificent food.
Neo, I am still thinking about the very unusual stuffing you mentioned in an earlier post. Crumbled Sara Lee pound cake was one of the main ingredients. I have never heard of such a thing, but it sounded interesting.
Our family’s must-haves include the green bean casserole (it’s not just a Texas thing), my sister’s sweet potato casserole with praline pecan topping (more like dessert, actually) and a fresh cranberry compote with orange and sliced almonds. If those dishes are not on the table, it’s not Thanksgiving.
We had the requisite traditional feast, turkey, etc., with the addition of roasted root vegetables, marinated in a garlicky balsamic concoction. My husband and 13 year-old granddaughter made the pecan pie to supplement 2 pumpkin pies. We had 14 around the table(s). Next day leftovers were some reheats and the stuffing, mixed with an egg, turned into savory waffles, complete with maple syrup. Quite good. No whole turkey served here. We live 3 miles from a turkey farm who supplied us with a turkey roast, white and dark meat netted together. I don’t miss fussing with the carcass at all.
CV:
It’s an amazing stuffing. Rather sweet, but not at all sickeningly sweet. This year, because there were some people who can’t eat gluten, it was made with some sort of gluten-free cornbread. It was still very very good.